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Norwegian trade body unveils new board

Norway’s trade association has unveiled its new board for the 2023-2024 period.

Márkomeannu festival director Ane Margrethe Ugelvik has been elected to the board of the Norwegian Cultural Organisers (NKA), alongside Jungelen founder and general manager Simon Alejandro Larsen. Bergen-based cultural organisation Jungelen stages club and concert series, as well as Jungelfest.

NKA has also welcomed three new deputies: Oslo Urban Week programme manager Linnéa Elisabeth Svensson, Tromsø International Film Festival boss Lisa Hoen and Trondheim Calling GM Eirik Brevik.

“It’s a good combination of new and old faces”

“It’s a good combination of new and old faces,” says NKA chair Trude Storheim. “There is a broadly composed board in terms of background, experience and competence, which is already enthusiastically getting started with the work. It bodes well for the important work the board is set to do.”

The new board members will succeed Marit Over-Rein Stokkenes, Sandra Márjá West, Åsa Paaske Gulbrandsen, Morten Wien and Runa Lunde Strindin.

Established in 1982, NKA’s international name is Norwegian Live. The Oslo-headquartered body represents more than 500 members, including festivals, clubs, venues, concert associations, student societies, libraries, museums and concert and cultural centres.

PHOTO (BACK L-R): Roza Aghili Taslimi, Lisa Hoen, Simon Alejandro Larsen, Trude Storheim, Ane Margrethe Ugelvik. (FRONT L-R): Runar Eggesvik, Per-Harald Nilsson, Linnéa Elisabeth Svensson, Gøran Aamodt

 


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Norway’s largest arena inks Ticketmaster deal

Norway’s largest arena has confirmed it has renewed its partnership with Ticketmaster Norway.

The 23,000-cap Telenor Arena has hosted acts such as The Weeknd, Post Malone, Depeche Mode and Robbie Williams in the past year alone, with Olivia Rodrigo lined up to perform in 2024.

Ticketmaster Norway will serve as the venue’s official ticketing partner, offering cutting-edge technology, marketing outreach and expertise.

“We are pleased to have Ticketmaster on our side – their innovative and robust solutions, extensive marketing reach and decades of expertise are essential to our success,” says Kjetil Bell Tveit, CEO at Telenor Arena. “We look forward to continuing working together to enhance the fan experience, both inside and outside the arena.”

“Together, we’re taking live entertainment in Norway to new heights”

Since opening in 2009, the venue has welcomed the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Adele, Foo Fighters, the Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, AC/DC, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney and Jay-Z, as well as the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.

“We are honoured to partner with the Norwegian cultural hub that is Telenor Arena,” says Kristian Seljeset, MD of Ticketmaster Norway. “Together, we’re taking live entertainment in Norway to new heights. It’s all about facilitating those unforgettable moments for fans at this iconic venue, and we can’t wait to get started.”

 


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Global Citizen Festival raises $240m in commitments

Global Citizen Festival has garnered $240 million in commitments from France and Norway to address the global hunger crisis.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Jung Kook of BTS headlined the festival on the Great Lawn of Central Park, in New York City, on Saturday (23 September).

The 2023 edition saw major progress in addressing the world’s worsening food insecurity crisis. Emmanuel Macron, president of France, announced via video message a $150m commitment to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – which marked the largest commitment to the fund by any government this year.

While, Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Norway’s minister of international development, also pledged $90m to the fund.

Global Citizen is continuing to call on world leaders to increase their contributions to IFAD by at least 50% to ensure the agency reaches its funding target of $2 bn by the end of 2023.

“Climate change can’t hit pause while world leaders get their act together’

Tickets to Global Citizen Festival were free but attendees were required to join the organisation’s campaign to raise awareness about hunger, poverty, climate change and inequities facing women around the world, among other related concerns.

The event generated 3.3 million actions taken by global citizens around the world.

“At a time when some leaders are walking back their promises, your actions deliver impact,” says Hugh Evans, co-founder and CEO, Global Citizen. “So don’t stop taking action. Climate change can’t hit pause while world leaders get their act together. So don’t stop. The poorest people on Earth don’t have decades to spare. So don’t stop. We can’t wait for someone else to take action. We have to take action now.”

Global Citizen Festival also included a tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip hop which featured surprise performances from Busta Rhymes, Common, Big Daddy Kane and Rapsody alongside D-Nice.


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Skyrocketing prices wipe out Norwegian festivals

Several mid-sized Norwegian festivals have cancelled their 2023 editions due to “skyrocketing” costs, with some axed indefinitely.

Beitostølen Live, a two-day festival that takes place at the base of the Jotunheimen mountains in southern Norway, is the latest victim.

“It is with a heavy heart that Beitostølen Live saw no other way out than to announce a tender,” reads a statement on the festival’s website. “After difficult years of pandemic and war in Europe, our festival concept, the public’s buying habits and the industry in general have changed significantly. With increasing competition, rising prices, demands for advance payment at all stages, failing ticket sales both this year and last year, less sponsorship income and the absence of public financial support, the math unfortunately does not add up.”

Launched in 2019, the festival has seen performances from Sting, Bonnie Tyler and Wyclef Jean.

Elsewhere, Kadetten – a hip-hop festival launched in 2022 that featured Megan Thee Stallion, Central Cee and Burna Boy – cancelled its 2023 edition earlier this year.

“Our festival concept, the public’s buying habits and the industry in general have changed significantly”

“The cancellation comes solely from the costs of the artists and availability in 2023,” wrote Kadetten organisers. “The prices of everything have skyrocketed, in addition, the predictability for American artists has become a logistical nightmare with flights etc.”

Other festivals that will not return in 2023 include the 19-year-old Skral in Grimstad, Oslo Americana (and its sister events in Sweden) and Festival Imperium.

Siri Haugan Holden, general manager of Norwegian Culture Organizers (NKA) says that with rising costs and increased competition it’s not surprising that more organisers see themselves having to cancel.

She goes on to say that the market has sharpened and the association is seeing a greater divide where the big organisers with significant financial muscle are pulling away from the rest.

“The fact that the public is not quite back to the same level as before the pandemic makes it difficult for the organisers to raise the prices as much as the costs rise,” said Holden. “This has put the organisers in a difficult situation, where they may eventually have to cancel.”

 


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Springsteen’s Oslo concerts to be battery powered

Live Nation Norway will introduce electricity from mobile batteries for Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming concerts in Oslo, Norway.

Springsteen and The E Street Band are due to play two concerts at Voldsløkka (cap. 40,000) on 30 June and 2 July.

Thanks to a new partnership between LN Norway and Norwegian renewable energy and technology company Eviny, the gigs will use electricity from mobile batteries – thereby significantly reducing the use of diesel generators.

Live Nation Norway festivals Tons of Rock and the newly launched Vaulen Open Air will also benefit from the introduction of Eviny’s batteries.

“At Live Nation Norway, we are taking the lead in finding new, emission-free solutions”

Eviny has been producing clean renewable energy from hydropower for over 100 years and is now investing in mobile batteries and energy solutions to slash emissions within Norway’s live music scene.

The partnership sees the promoter take a step closer to decarbonising its festivals’ energy sources, seven years ahead of the original goal date of 2030.

“At Live Nation Norway, we are taking the lead in finding new, emission-free solutions,” says Martin Nielsen, head promoter in Live Nation Norway. “Eviny will now become an energy partner where the goal is to take action and make a difference to pave the way for a more sustainable live music scene both nationally and globally.”

Marit Meland, business developer at Eviny, adds: “We see a huge interest from several industries that are moving full speed ahead into the green shift. We see more and more interest from markets where there is a temporary need for electricity. The live music scene is a part of this, both when it comes to concerts and other types of events.”

 


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All Things Live continues acquisition spree in Norway

All Things Live is strengthening its foothold in Norway with the acquisition of Oslo-based event agency All-In.

The deal comes weeks after All Things Live purchased one of Norway’s largest independent festival organisers, HES.

The group’s Norwegian business already spans booking, promotion, events, comedy and festival activities via subsidiaries Stageway, Komon Stageway, Latter and Stand Up Norge.

All-In was founded in 2017 by Jens Nesse, Jan Fredrik Karlsen and Petter Stordalen and now employs 10 people to work with corporate events, concerts and conferences for Norwegian and international customers.

In 2022, All-In had revenues of NOK 133 million (€9.9m) and NOK 15 million (€1.3m) in profits.

“We are proud of what we have achieved in All-In,” says Jens Nesse, co-founder and CEO of All-In. “After founding the company in 2017, the business has grown to become what we dreamt of. Becoming part of a family as ambitious as All Things Live will provide us with even more fuel to accelerate in the coming years.”

“We will gain a stronger foothold in an important market, enabling us to create even more unique experiences”

“We have found everything we were looking for in All Things Live. Loads of experience, great enthusiasm and a wide range of competencies. It is a powerful team with great resources within our field. What is not to like?” adds co-founder of All-In, Jens Fredrik Karlsen.

Gry Mølleskog, CEO of All Things Live Norway and the All Things Live Group: “The acquisition of All-In strengthens All Things Live’s position in the event market in Norway. In combination with our ownership of Komon-Stageway, we will gain a stronger foothold in an important market, enabling us to create even more unique experiences for our customers.

“The competencies in these two great event companies combined with the strong teams in Latter and Stand Up Norge, Komon-Stageway and HES will make All Things Live an even more attractive partner in the Norwegian event industry.”

In the last 12 months, the All Things Live group has acquired Agents After All (the Netherlands), Musickness (Belgium), Radar Concerti (Italy) and Amaze Festival (Sweden), alongside HES and All-In.

Since the Nordic group was founded by Waterland Private Equity in 2018, it has expanded to seven European countries and 19 companies, with offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Brussels, Milan and Amsterdam.

The company’s portfolio ranges from musical productions to music festivals and standup events to stadium concerts, with The Rolling Stones, Eminem, Katy Perry and Rammstein among its clients.

 


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All Things Live buys Norwegian promoter HES

All Things Live has acquired one of the largest independent festival organisers in Norway, HES.

Founded in 2010, the Oslo-based company is a full-service provider of festival organisation and operations.

HESs 13-strong team is involved in festivals including Verket, Drøbakfestivalen, Hvalstrandfestivalen, Sarpsborgfestivalen, Lillehammer Live and Haikjeften, as well as music venue Verket Scene.

The acquisition sees All Things Live’s footprint in Norway expand to cover booking, promotion, events, comedy and festival activities via subsidiaries Stageway, Komon Stageway, Latter and Stand Up Norge.

“The HES team has built a strong business with clear growth prospects on the back of proven capabilities within festival organisation and operations,” says Gry Mølleskog, CEO of All Things Live Group.

“Since 2010, the team has established several successful festivals entertaining thousands of people every year, and we are pleased to welcome HES as part of All Things Live in Norway with a view to developing the business and accelerating the positive developments in the years ahead.”

“The HES team has built a strong business with clear growth prospects”

The management team – consisting of CEO Hans Petter Haaland and head of market Erle Strøm – and the organisation of HES remain unchanged, and existing contracts and customer relationships are not affected by the transaction. The current owners of HES become partners and co-owners of All Things Live.

“We are thrilled to team up with All Things Live and look forward to collaborating closely with a leading and respected European live entertainment player to build on our successes in Norway and create even greater live experiences for our audiences together,” says Hans Petter Haaland, CEO of HES.

“For more than a decade, we have organized and run more than 50 festivals and promoted many of Scandinavia’s best artists, and we will continue to do so with an even stronger organization as part of the All Things Live partnership.”

In the last 12 months, the All Things Live group has acquired Agents After All (the Netherlands), Musickness (Belgium), Radar Concerti (Italy) and Amaze Festival (Sweden).

Since the Nordic group was founded by Waterland Private Equity in 2018, it has expanded to seven European countries and 19 companies, with offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Brussels, Milan and Amsterdam.

The company’s portfolio ranges from musical productions to music festivals and standup events to stadium concerts, with The Rolling Stones, Eminem, Katy Perry and Rammstein among its clients.

 


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2023 lineups: Øya, Flow, Hurricane & Southside

Øya (NO), Flow (FI), Hurricane & Southside (DE), Paaspop (NL) and Welcome To Rockville (US) are the latest festivals to beef-up their 2023 festival line-ups.

Norway’s Øya festival has detailed its gender-balanced line-up for 2023, which includes Sigrid, FKA Twigs, Caroline Polachek, Amyl and the Sniffers, Devo, Håkan Hellstrom, Shygirl and TV Girl.

The Superstruct-backed festival, which will return to Oslo’s Tøyenparken between 8–12 August, will once again put sustainability at the forefront of its operation.

The site operates free of fossil fuels, with 98% of its power being renewable and all construction machinery is run on biofuel.

That approach is also applied to everything from recycling (75% of all waste is recycled, having been sorted by hand) to travel (98% of attendees arrive by bike, foot or public transport).

The Øya site operates free of fossil fuels, with 98% of its power being renewable

Superstruct’s Flow Festival has also revealed the first acts for next year’s edition in Helsinki, Finland, between 11 and 13 August.

FKA Twigs, Caroline Polachek, Suede, Devo, Amyl & The Sniffers, Shygirl, Jockstrap, 070 Shake and more will perform at the culture, music, arts and debate festival in the post-industrial area of Suvilahti.

In Germany, the 2023 editions of FKP Scorpio’s flagship festivals, Hurricane and Southside, are beginning to take shape.

Billy Talent, Muse, Die Ärzte, Kraftklub, Placebo, Casper, Peter Fox and Queens Of The Stone Age will top the bill for the twin events, which this year sold-out and attracted 150,000 attendees.

Southside and Hurricane will return to Neuhausen ob Eck and the Eichenring motorcycle speedway in Scheessel, respectively, between 16 to 18 June 2023.

Danny Wimmer Presents unveiled the line-up for its longest-running annual festival

In neighbouring country, the Netherlands, The Event Warehouse is putting the final touches on Paaspop 2023.

Limp Bizkit today (15 December) joined next year’s line-up which already included 90 names including Antoon, Armin van Buuren, Calum Scott and Danny Vera.

Davina Michelle, De Staat, dEUS, DI-Rect, Flemming, George Ezra, Goldband, Reinier Zonneveld, Rondé, S10, Son Mieux and Triggerfinger are also lined up for the festival, scheduled for 7–9 April 2023 at De Molenheide in Schijndel.

Also today, Danny Wimmer Presents unveiled the line-up for its longest-running annual festival, Welcome To Rockville (US).

Tool, Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera, Deftones, Rob Zombie, Godsmack, Queens of the Stone Age, Evanescence and Incubus are the first name to be announced for the 12th edition.

The event will return to Daytona International Speedway In Daytona Beach, Florida, between 18–21 May 2023. This year’s edition brought together 150,000 fans.


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The New Bosses 2022: Vegard Storaas, Live Nation Norway

The 15th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses was published in IQ 114 this month, revealing 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

To get to know this year’s cohort a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2022’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.

Catch up on the previous New Bosess 2022 interview with Stella Scocco, club and entertainment manager of Södra Teatern in Sweden. The series continues with Vegard Storaas, promoter at Live Nation Norway.

Storaas started booking student festivals as well as being an agent for up-and-coming artists while in college. After college, he secured a job at Music Norway, an export office that helps Norwegian artists in international markets. In 2016, he joined Live Nation where he spent the first three years in a team with Martin Nielsen before becoming a promoter in 2019.

As a promoter, Storaas has worked on building the company’s portfolio of urban and regional festivals. One of the highlights has been NEON festival, a pop festival that started in 2022 that sold 18,000 tickets for each day.

From the very beginning at Live Nation, Storaas has looked to identify opportunities with unfulfilled potential in the market. One of these is country music, which is growing internationally and which punches above its weight in Norway. After two years of rescheduling, Storaas finally got to promote two arena shows for American country singer and songwriter Brad Paisley this summer, which sold 20,000 tickets.

 


At college, you were booking festivals as well as representing emerging talent. How did you learn those skills and who did you turn to for advice?
The short answer is I didn’t. It was learning by doing all the way. I picked up a few things from former students and the Internet (surprisingly there is a lot to learn from interviews and articles) and went with my gut. It felt a bit like steering a rollercoaster built by non-graduated students.

I had a teacher at university that I turned to for advice. He used to work in the industry as a promoter and manager so he knew a lot. He was good at pointing me in the right direction when I was in deep water, which by my (and probably his) recollection, was pretty often.

You worked at Music Norway for a while. Are there any areas where you think the commercial live music industry could work better with export offices?
Export offices like Music Norway use a lot of resources to help the industry build networks in the main export markets. That is crucial for success. Meanwhile, there are several commercial companies like Live Nation and FKP Scorpio that have offices across Europe and North America and close working relationship with colleagues in the most important markets.

Let’s say a major label and a global promoter in a small market such as Norway made a coordinated push on an emerging talent through its respective systems. If it happened simultaneously, I think chances are that this artist would break the surface and have something good to build on. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but I think there are some unfulfilled synergies that haven’t been really exploited in that space.

“We had a whole pandemic to come up with the plan [for Neon festival], now we have to prove we can stay”

Launching a pop festival like NEON in an uncertain marketplace was a risk. Just what made the event such a success?
Several factors I’d say. We had the festival on the first weekend of June, the same day as the last exam for students (Trondheim – where NEON takes place – is the most popular city in Norway for students). It effectively became the event that kicked off the summer. Our line-up was made up of only domestic talent, which was deliberate. With quarantine and different Covid rules in every country when we launched, our thinking was that it would feel safer buying tickets for domestic artists.

By on-sale, it had been over two years since the domestic artists that normally sell lots of tickets had played restriction-free shows. Naturally, there was extra demand in the market and this I think accumulated in NEON, being first out. Also worth mentioning is Karpe, our main headliner, who recently sold 110,000 tickets in Oslo. We had several great urban acts lower on the bill that together with Karpe created a strong package.

2023 will be like a second album; we had a whole pandemic to come up with this plan, now we have to prove we can stay.

Your shows with Brad Paisley prove that there is a strong demand for country music in Norway. Are there any festivals in the pipeline?
Can’t say I haven’t thought about it. There might be a market for it. But there are some challenges, too. Country music doesn’t have the same position in every European market. The interest varies significantly, and historically that has made it difficult to build a festival tour that makes sense for American superstars. The festivals that exist are spread out in period, size, and profile; some are domestic talent-leaning, others focus on Americana etc.

Many big country artists come to Europe to build a broader audience and want to play contemporary festivals rather than traditional country music festivals. So, even if there is a country festival, a wish-list headliner might want to do Glastonbury instead. Taking all this into account, country in Europe is not the easiest, but let’s see what the future holds.

“The live industry in Norway is a lot more than Oslo and new talent”

And what about other musical genres – are you looking at other gaps in the market for shows?
There is a running joke in the office that I have music taste as if I were in my late 60s. I laugh but it’s a bit true. Many of the artists I discovered while searching through my father’s record collection in my youth fascinate me as a promoter. First and foremost because it’s good music and great musicians but also because there is a market for these artists. Fans are loyal and have got purchasing power. The live industry in Norway is a lot more than Oslo and new talent, and while we remind ourselves of that, I think some of these legacy artists are left behind.

It’s been impossible to navigate this space without help from my very good colleagues, Rune Lem and Martin Nielsen, that I learn something from every day. If I could be half the promoter that they are, I would be happy with my career.

As a new boss, what one thing would you change to make the live entertainment industry a better place?
Free the music industry from TikTok! It’s a good question. The truth is that it’s probably several things that should be changed to make it a better place. Our peak season just passed, and there is no doubt that everybody has been working full speed this summer. We have been out of practice, which has required extra time and energy on the same tasks. It hasn’t come without a cost. I see many [people] are worn out and tired after these months.

During Covid our industry paused and many people started reflecting on their jobs. Some realised that they had been in a hamster wheel for too long, so they quit. The lifestyle wasn’t healthy. If the industry doesn’t create systems to avoid constant overload, where it’s not just about keeping your head above water, I’m afraid more good people with great skills will quit, too. Professional and highly qualified workers are key to any success. I think we all have seen recent examples from this summer where lack of experience led to disadvantages. We could learn from other workplaces and look at how more institutionalised industries do it. It’s crucial that we take care of our own.

“We could learn from other workplaces and look at how more institutionalised industries do it”

Having a good bond with agents and artist managers is crucial. How did you maintain contact with people during the pandemic, and do you feel that the working relationship between agents and promoters has changed over the past couple of years?
Pre-pandemic I travelled to the UK three or four times a year to meet agents, managers, and colleagues. For me, as a new promoter, these tours were very fruitful, and equally challenging when they suddenly stopped. Only rescheduling what was already in the pipeline didn’t help with the development [of relationships].

Now that we are back to normal, I am continuing where I left off pre-Covid as these relationships are super important. As a promoter, it’s about making the agents trust me as the right guy for their artist. But I don’t think the relationships between us have changed that much. It’s similar to how it’s always been: dealing, wheeling, beers, billing. That said, during the crisis, there was a rare feeling of companionship between agents and promoters, as we were all in it together. It would be fantastic if that kept going.

What one thing would you like artists to learn about coming to perform in Norway?
Norway is twice the length of the UK but has only half the population of London. We slide in at number 215 on population density and stand three metres away from each other while waiting for the bus. We love our freezing cabins with no plumbing and our dry humour. I guess we can be seen as a bit cold in the beginning. It takes time. It’s in our DNA. But once we warm to people, become friends and fans and you capture our hearts, there is a whole lot of love to give. Keep that in mind for next time. It’s not you, it’s us!

 


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The New Bosses: Introducing the class of 2022

The 15th edition of IQ Magazine‘s New Bosses can now be revealed, highlighting 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

New Bosses 2022 inspired the most engaged voting process to date, with hundreds of people taking the time to submit nominations. The final 20 comprises executives working across agencies, promoters, ticketing companies, charities and venues in 12 different countries.

In no particular order, the New Bosses 2022 are:

Benji Fritzenschaft, DreamHaus (DE).
Clara Cullen, Music Venue Trust (UK).
Dan Rais, CAA (CO).
David Nguyen, Rock The People (CZ).
Daytona Häusermann, Gadget ABC (CH).
Grant Hall, ASM Global (US).
James Craigie, Goldenvoice (UK).
Kathryn Dryburgh, ATC Live (UK).
Resi Scheurmann, Konzertbüro Schoneberg (DE).
Seny Kassaye, Fort Agency (CA).
Agustina Cabo, Move Concerts (AR).
Sönke Schal, Karsten Janke Konzertdirektion (DE).
Steel Hanf, Proxy Agency (US).
Steff James, Live Nation (UK).
Stella Scocco, Södra Teatern (SE).
Vegard Storaas, Live Nation (NO).
Lewis Wilde, DICE (UK).
Zoe Williamson, UTA (US).
Jonathan Hou, Live Nation (US).
Maciej Korczak, Follow The Step (PL).

Subscribers can read shortened profiles of each of the 2022 New Bosses in issue 114 of IQ Magazine, which is out now. Full-length Q&As will appear on IQ in the coming days and weeks.

Click here to subscribe to IQ for just £7.99 a month – or check out what you’re missing out on with the limited preview below:

 


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